Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management and Engineering Systems
Director, System Dynamics Group

John D. Sterman is the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Director of MIT's System Dynamics Group. His research includes systems thinking and organizational learning, computer simulation of corporate strategy, and the theory of nonlinear dynamics. He is the author of many scholarly and popular articles on the challenges and opportunities facing organizations today, including the book Modeling for Organizational Learning, and the award-winning textbook Business Dynamics.

Prof. Sterman's research centers on improving managerial decision making in complex systems. He has pioneered the development of "management flight simulators" of corporate and economic systems. These flight simulators are now used by corporations and universities around the world. His recent research ranges from the dynamics of organizational change and the implementation of sustainable improvement programs to experimental studies assessing public understanding of global climate change.

Prof. Sterman has twice been awarded the Jay W. Forrester Prize for the best published work in system dynamics, won a 2005 IBM Faculty Award, won the 2001 Accenture Award for the best paper of the year published in the California Management Review (with Nelson Repenning), has five times won awards for teaching excellence from the students of the Sloan School, and was named one of the Sloan School's "Outstanding Faculty" by the 2001 Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools. He has been featured on public television's News Hour, National Public Radio's Marketplace, CBC television, Fortune, the Financial Times, Business Week, and other newspapers and journals for his research work and innovative use of interactive simulations in management education and corporate problem solving.

News and announcements:

Books Published by John D. Sterman

Prof. John Sterman – Why Bad Things Happen to Good Technologies (May 7, 2008)

Prof. Sterman in Boston Herald – Entrepreneurs Going Green in MIT Course (April 11, 2008)

Prof. John Sterman on high gas prices (July 11, 2007)

Prof. John Sterman – Systems model shows sustained policy incentives, carbon taxes will widen alternative vehicle use (June 8, 2007)

Prof. John Sterman wins 2005 IBM Faculty Award (October 6, 2005)